Winter storms pack grocery stores, make me question where I live, and cause me to eat too much

A snowy weekend provides a lot of time for pondering important questions, along with these thoughts:

I was not expecting the grocery store to be out of kidney beans on Saturday – I know that people rush out to the stores before we are supposed to get a big storm, and I don’t see any problem with it. It makes sense to go to the stores the day or two before the snow arrives, especially if you live outside of town and your roads will be slippery. When we went to the store on Saturday, though, I was surprised to see the shelves so low on kidney beans, and one of the cashiers told me they had also run out of pancake mix. I can understand the run on pancake mixes, but I had no idea that everyone else makes chili when we get snow. I suppose it’s a hot food and it also keeps your stomach churning and warm for hours afterwards, so maybe that’s a good thing.

Why do we always have level three snow emergencies on the weekends? – Why not on a Wednesday so we have to stay home unless we are essential personnel?

Should I be happy or sad that I have never been an “essential” person at any job I have had? – I have always tried to just blend in and keep working. Should I strive for an important position where I have go to into work even if the roads are terrible, or should I instead try to stay non-essential so that I can stay home if it snows?

All I want to do all day on snowy days is eat – I can’t stop snacking. The next time before a big storm hits, I am going to go out and load up on Chex Mix, Crunch and Munch and other snack items. I am surprised the stores don’t run out of chips and salsa before storms hit.

How in the world is the new Steak and Shake restaurant in my city going up so fast this winter? – If they can build a whole restaurant so fast (especially when it is so cold outside), I hope they can serve me a burger and shake quickly when they open.

While shoveling snow, I often think, “Why do we live in Ohio again?’ – It’s a great state, but I am ready for winter to be over by the end of January. Why does anyone choose to live in places that get even more snow than we do? Don’t they like wearing shorts? Is it so they can wear hats all of the time and save on haircut expenses? Do they hate bugs and insects that much?

If creatures from another world landed here in the winter, do you think they would just go home? – Maybe they would think our planet is uninhabitable.

Why can’t the people who build the Steak and Shake restaurants also build our new schools and other large buildings? – Three years to build a building? They could have all of the new stadiums, corporate offices and schools finished by July and the cafeterias would be awesome.

Crunch and Munch is great, but it does not have enough peanuts – And there’s definitely not any many (or any) in the top half of the box. I shall have to keep eating to try to find more peanuts.

What happens to all of the salt we dump on our sidewalks and driveways? – Is the grass around it rich in salt now? Could we also dump salt on the sidewalks in the spring and fall to keep slugs away?

It is nice not to have to worry about stepping on slugs in the winter – I am trying to think of the positives of cold weather today. Let’s see, I don’t have to worry about the ice cream melting on my way home from the store, I like wearing sweatshirts and no one is tracking mud into the house. That’s all I have.

If a level three snow emergency is currently our highest level, what would a level four be? – You can’t get out of bed? You will be arrested if you go outside? Don’t even open your curtains?

I’m pretty certain I saw two snowflakes that were exactly alike on Saturday – I just can’t believe that they are all different. It’s like saying that no two pieces of Crunch and Munch are the same.

I’m hungry again – I haven’t snacked in 30 minutes! Time for more Crunch and Munch while I wait for Steak and Shake to open soon. I realize now that I apparently enjoy foods that rhyme. Maybe I should also eat something from a hot pot or snack on some Reese’s Pieces or even beanie weenie. It’s just too bad I don’t have any kidney beans.

When I worked in the Frozen North (Kent, OH) I was, for a time, an essential employee. I lived 25 miles away from campus. I had many near death experiences. Winter weather up there is a whole different animal, and not one you want to have to hang out with often. After I changed jobs and was considered nonessential, I was delighted (as in very happy, and not that my light had been extinguished). I have been blissfully nonessential since then, and would love a level 3 during the week just to revel in my nonessentialness. Is that a word? Nonessentiality? Nope that isn’t a word either. Well, you get my drift.

Thanks! First of all, this comment is better than most of my posts, plus you receive extra points for using “delighted.” I am honored to know an essential person, and I have heard that the snow is much, much worse up there. I bet that made for some tough driving. I’m glad you are essentially a non-essential employee now, and thanks again!

First of all what is a level three? Here in Massachusetts we either have a state of emergency where they would prefer you stay off the roads or Martial law which I have not experience since the Blizzard of ’78(wow, just dated myself). I would stay non-essential if I were you, my husband worked at a job for 31 years where he was considered essential-being not that important works.
I love the people who go get a lot of foods that need refrigeration before a snow storm, what happens when the power goes out, maybe it is just an excuse to eat! “I had to eat it all we would have lost it when the power went out.
You appear to have a slug problem in your neck of the woods.

Thanks! That’s a good point about all of the food going bad if the power goes out. We have put some outside in the cold in the past if the power went out, but I don’t know if that is a good idea or not. Stay warm this week!

A level 3 snow emergency in Ohio is basically – no one is to be on the roads unless for an emergency situation and you are subject to arrest. I, too, lived through the blizzard of 78! 77 and 78 were TOUGH winters. I lived in northeast Ohio (Canton) and my dad was a police officer. He worked around the clock rescuing people who were stranded. We did not lose power at my parents’ house (I was in junior high school), but my sister and her husband did. He was able to get them and their dogs in the southwest end of the city and get them to my parents’ house in the northeast end, where they hunkered down for a week until power was restored. We never saw bare ground all winter those years – something that never happens anymore. Stay safe in Massachusetts!